Early on in “I Was a Stranger,” we follow Amira (Yasmine Al Massri), a physician working at a hospital in war-torn Syria in the late 2010s. As she tries to save the lives of wounded men, explosions rattle outside the building, bullets crash through a window and a patient pulls a gun on her.

When her shift is over, she finds her young daughter, Rasha (Massa Daoud), has come to fetch her; it is Amira’s birthday, a fact she has forgotten.

It will prove to be the worst of her life.

Going wider this week after a recent limited theatrical release, “I Was a Stranger” is the undeniably impressive — and, at times, heartbreaking — feature debut of writer-director Brandt Andersen, who adapted it from his award-winning short film “Refugee.”

Boasting an international cast and narrative set in multiple nations, the drama features a largely non-English narrative and makes use of subtitles throughout its less-than-two-hour runtime.

Before dropping us into the hell that is Aleppo at this time, Andersen presents text attributed to William Shakespeare that asks that you consider the plight of those coming from another land in search of better lives and from which the original title of the film, “The Strangers’ Case,” was taken. Then we see the Windy City — and, undoubtedly not coincidentally, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago — where we originally see Amira working, years later.

Soon, the narrative begins in earnest with the first of five chapters, “The Doctor,” the one centered around Amira. From there, it progresses through the remaining four:

—“The Soldier,” also set in Aleppo and featuring Yahya Mahayni’s Mustafa, whose limits are pushed by the brutality of a superior officer

—“The Smuggler,” shifting the action to Izmir, Turkey, and centering on the work of Omar Sy’s Marwan, who makes good money sending desperate folks off in a cramped boat with something far from a promise that Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard will rescue them

—“The Poet,” tracking the bid of Ziad Bakri’s Fathi to get his family to safety via Marwan’s questionable services

—and “The Captain,” showcasing how the efforts to save those seeking asylum are taking a great toll on Constantine Markoulakis’ Stavros, who leads a boat in the aforementioned arm of the Greek military.

Each slice of this narrative is powerful in its own way. And while you may wish the vignettes overlapped just a bit more than they do, taken as a whole, they illustrate how conflicts such as the Syrian civil war can be devastating in ways that stretch beyond the tragic mass loss of human life.

French actor Sy (“The Intouchables,” “Jurassic World”) turns in the strongest performance as the complex Marwan; while making it clear it pays the same whether his clients survive their journey, he isn’t wholly in this line of business for himself.

A close second is Greek performer Markoulakis, who wears the weight of his work not just on his face but also through his body language. While a member of his crew has kept a tally of the refugees they’ve saved, Stavros stopped counting — at 1,000 — those whom they could not.

We would have liked to know more about the underwritten titular figures of “The Soldier” and “The Poet,” but the performances of Syrian native Mahayni and Palestinian actor Bakri (“The Weekend Away”) are nonetheless compelling, as is that of Palestinian French actress Massri (“Quantico”), who starred in Andersen’s “Refugee.”

“I Was a Stranger” is at least a borderline-stunning first feature from the filmmaker, who has producer credits on movies including 2015's “Everest,” 2016’s “Silence” and 2017’s “American Made” and whose activism has seen him visit refugee camps and found the organization REEL Foundation. He takes an effective less-is-more approach here, with the possible exception of the film’s final moments back in Chicago, which feel a little heavy-handed.

His film benefits significantly from the work of director of photography Jonathan Sela (“John Wick,” “Deadpool 2”), whose camerawork is kinetic without being frenetic, and editor Jeff Seibenick (“The Mandalorian”), who helps Andersen punctuate the film’s impactful moments.

There is no shortage of such moments in “I Was a Stranger,” which, unsurprisingly, earned its share of accolades in 2024 on the film festival circuit. And, given some of what continues to happen around the world, it feels like something pretty darned close to essential viewing.

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‘I WAS A STRANGER’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong violent content/bloody images, thematic material, a racial slur and smoking)

Running time: 1:44

How to watch: In theaters nationwide Jan. 9

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